Oscillating electric fan



May 6, 1 930. i N. w. GILBERT ET AL 1,757,797

OSCILLATING ELECTRIC FAN Filed Feb. 12. 1927 s Sheets- Sheet 1 Wil /V70? KM (DQ912414 v mam-4* M W AIM/M675 May 6, 1930. w, GILBERT ET AL 1,757;797

OSCILLATING ELECTRIC FAN Filed Feb. 12, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIVVEIVTOP Arr-00mm,

May 6, 1930. v w G1LBERT ET AL 1,757,797

OSCILLA'IING ELECTRIC FAN Filed Feb. 12 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 W ain 70$ M 1 W m W 2411 a) P W Patented May 6, 1930 .UN'ITEDQ PATENTJ oEErc ST.

Z ivnvrrnn WALLACE ermannrjnnn ARTHUR EDWAR JABE'I, v or BIRMINGHAM; J

nive enn.

OSOiiiLATi-NG ELECTRIC V-FANL Application fiiearebmar 12,1927; sw rm, 167,808.;

Our invention has reference to oscillating fans of the typein which, in=order to pro-V vide for an orbital travel orsirnultaneous displacementof the fan-wheel or; propeller in two directions, the displaceable unit const1- tutedby the motorfcasing andxfan-Wheehis so pivotallymountecl in relation to thqfixed base or supper-has to be capable of swinging in two intersecting planes and the gfan rnotor' 1o shaftifs a ept dto drivey qug a r duction gear ng, a low-m ion haft whi hif wlnera e wi h n: n rmediate traYers ng-meeh- I ism re liz the orb t l movement.-- According to our said nvention, thetrav- ;ersinginechanism is constituted by;,a- 1 link hic i n c ed o: and. rotat W thmotor-driven slow-motion shaft 1 and is 1 also anchore (p e e a ly by a ha l-t o univer joint),to a fulcrum that is fixed in'relation i .to the non-displaceable unit.-

According; to one apgrication 0f the; in- {vention asillustratezlim igures1;to:5 of the accompanying drawings, the anchored link is .-hi ge.d,to the slowwino ion sh ft injsuch a manner that whilst theformelr is constrained. to turncrankvvisewithj the latter; it; is also capable of simultaneously changing its; angularity with respecttothe sloW-motiontshaft.

Figure 1 is a sectionalielevation; of the 1; vf .S lQW ng the. general; arrangement of a hingecl-link mechanism and also exemplify-i ing, in'full and dottedi lines respectively5'the two extremes of the oscillatingimovementof the displaceable unit uponathe; horizontal ;tr,11nnions-A. Q Eigure 2 is 5a sectional plan (the. section being taken on the dotted c lines 2,'2, Figure 1) similarly'showing the two extremes of the fixed; to the slow-motion n'ions'A in o-a forked-support, 'at-which 1 1 1111 is' connected' by a vertical trunnion B; to the ipe s ale T t 'lheifan-motorshaft, b is ,extende l.reari rdlyt e wea ng a a h athe in' '.a' n 0. a gea xewh reby Worm l andthe latter, by another WO Tm bi andwor-rnwheel 6 transmits the reduced; drive tea 7 lowm tlo ha t' dywh h; for ki v f vcompactnessanclcolweme lce lnmanufacture, I

I e a yiaeahedi the b s deilabm i PO iti- 'I d-behwa d i111 p a lel relat o fshipttothemotomshaftZnv W ie which extends into the space provided between o he-ib qk of h m tor-cas ng a d the reduction gear-box and supportsaball-ended fulcrum-piece f, whilstbetween this fixeclfulzcrurn f and the forvvard end of the slow' m i n t haf ther is.i terp seda g d link 1 9 h s 6 x rem l is. eo 'n cte w t v the; ball encl 7? of. the ifuleru'rn in a manner gwhich: provides for a universalmovement of th a d k ati ,to-t ezi lc u yw i s ."the other extremityg is engagedin a forked part d of the shaft dandishinged to the latter by a pin 9 (see Figure 4). This constructlon of binge permits of an' angulardis- [placement or rocking c movement of the link relatively to "the shaft cl, and also :i-ensures that the a link Twill rotate orankvvise with the said'shaft fvvhen the reduction gear driving thel'atter.

Such crankwise rotation of. the link g by vand with the slow-motion shaft anol around thefixecl'anchorage f results in the transmis i siontofthe displaceable unit of .theifan of a lateral movement about the vertical trunnion centre B'but by virtue of the hingin'g of its end 9' to; the shaft d, it follows that hilst the link isbeingthus carriedaround the fulcrum f its angularity with respect, to the ,axis of thei shaft is continually so changing that it reacts lever-wise upon the displaceable unit.

' That is: tosay, whenthe; displaCeablelunit is a the limit fits upward s eep'in-the vertical ire qn. and h t. d is b ow efi Crum 7, the nk a sume a ia u i n w respect othe d haf a own-i i-f l l n F gure l, b t asthe drive arr s rock- ;ing ink ,ereuni he .t crumithel. ngu alrity of the said link with respect to the shaft decreases until, when the link has been carried above the fulcrum, the same is inclined at an obtuse angle to the shaft between the latter and the fulcrum as indicated in dotted lines in the'saidFigure 1. The fixed'leverage' point from which these changes of angularity occur being the fulcrum f, the resultant reaction uponthe displaceable unit realizes the com-. pounding with the lateral sweep upon the; trunnion B of a vertical oscillation upon the trunnions A which results in the orbital travel of the fan-wheel.

The dimensions of-ithe orbit travers'ediby' thefan-wheeldepends on suchv factors as the v length of the link, the pitching of the fixed fulcrum centre in relation to the-axial oentre of the slow-motion shaft and (or) the 'disposition of theaxisofthe link hinge-connection g 'witl1 respect to the axis'of rotation of the shaft 01, and may be varied by changing either or all of these factors. For instance the orbit may be adjustable or Variable for a "givenj length of link by embodying in the'mechanism, a screw adjustment whereby the relac tive positions of the elementsfgg l may be altered, such an adjustmentibeing shown in Figure '5 where the link "gl,'in stead of; being directly hinged to the slow motion shaft, is '30 fulcruined on the plain-end of a screw; which is carried by and is adj ustable an extension (i of theishaft cl.

The character of 'the orbit" is gist affected by the angle which the axis of the'slow-motion ishaft makes with the 'axis of the ifan spindle, and may be modified by inclining the axis. of

- theslow-motion shaft towards the centre of oscillationon the trunnions A, or by arrang-- tiQIL p V g Y "A hand-controlled'cliitchlshown in Figure ing the two shafts so that both their axes point to the centre of movement of oscilla- 4) provides for the stopping and-starting of the oscillating mechanism and for the look ing of the displaceable fan-unit so that the fan-wheel will discharge in any desired direction as a non-oscillator. It also allows the drive from the transmission gearing. to slip 'shouldthe displaceable unit be obstructed'by any outside agency, and of the automatic restoration of the drive when the obstruction is removed.

Thesaid-clutch comprises essentially a hand operable member 0 which is mounted,

together with a friction device 0 on the slowmotion shaft 03 in such relation to the'gearwheel b? (which is loose on the shaft) and to a'wall '0? ofthe gear box'that, by-the appropriate actuation of the 'saidfcontrol member;

eitherjthe said gearwheel b may be frictionally connected to the shaft 'or the shaftfnay be lock'edinrelation to the gear-box The part of the shaft'd that extends through,'or registers with, an aperture in the side-wall'of"the gear-box is screwed at 0 and I In the modified" form 7 claimand; desire carries the control member 0 which consists of a nut that extends throughthe said gearbox aperture and is provided externally with a rotating knob. Internally the member is provided with a collar 0 opposed to the inner face of the wall 0. whilst between this collar and the loose worm wheel, the friction spring ".o -andwasher 0 are interposed; the thrust of this spring, against the worm-wheel keep-' ving. the latter up to an"abutment shoulder or discon the shaft. a v

The thrust of the spring on the worm-wheel is regulated by adjustment of the control member,;and by screwingjthe member inwards, the wheel may be practically locked to theshaft so that the mechanism operates normally to aotuatethe oscillating gear although, since the locking. is effected through the spring; the arrangement permits of the gear-wheel slippingjon the shaft and automatically-cuttingout the oscillator in the event of the oscillating part of the fan being obstructedby outside agency. Also, by easing oflthe'j'control-nut pressure on'the friction i device, Ithegear 'Wheelmay be allowed to run idly onthe shaft for stopping theioscilla 5 tion'mechanism-whilst by screwingifout the control member to the 'full extent until its 3 b n l lidersthe displaeea'ble' amunit unmovablg z 1 I shown in Figurefi; the slow motion-sha t is disposed at such an angle or inclination to the *fan wheel shaftias-to admit of "the de- 1 sired movement being obtained by "a link member which is rigidly fixed to the slow-motion shaft. The hingin'gfof the shaft end of thelink is thus eliminated.

' the Said e etspla eaue unit ofthe fan is shownpi'n 'full and dotted lines respectively; at the two extrem'e's of its movementonthe' centre A, and 'the traversing mechanism is similarly shown in the positions assumed at these extremes.

" .l The"sl0w-mot ion1 shaft a is housed the.

internal collar bears against the face 0 0i the r V gear-box wlall;the slow-motion shaft is locked to the part b 'of the-"reduction-gear box band is thereby definitely fixed at the angle A shown to the part b of the'casing wherein the'fan wheelshaft is housed, and the link-member at of the traversing mechanism is fixed atone end to the'extremity ofthe shaft a, whilst its other'end is connected 'by a ball or universal tor-driven slow-motion 'shaft" and-fa link "of traversing ear*'- 9 and traversingmechanism:including amo- A hinged thereto' to turn crankwise therewith, 39

the link being capable of simultaneously changing its angularity with respect to the shaft and being anchored by a universal joint to the fulcrum.

2. An electric fan of the class described,

comprising a base having a fulcrum thereon, traverslng mechanism including a 11nk and a motor-driven slow-motion shaft, the link be ing connected to and rotating with the shaft and also being anchored to they fulcrum, and

driving gear for the traversing mechanism,

such gear comprising a gear-Wheel loosely mounted on the shaft and a hand-controlled clutch device, the shaft being provided with means screwed thereon through which it is connected to the clutch device, such means providing for the locking of the shaft to the base for throwing the driving gear out of ac-v tion.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set I our hands.

NEVILLE W. GILBERT. ARTHUR E. JABET. 1 

